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THOUGHTS 



ON 



DIVINE INSPIRATION. 



BY 

Rev. J. B. SOLOMON, A.M., D.D., 

WITH AN 

INTRODUCTION 

BY 

Prof. WHITSITT, D.D., 

Of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 
- Louisville, Ky. 



**> 



Printed and Published by 

BAPTIST BOOK CONCERN, 

LOUISTILLE, KY. 

1894. 









Copyright, 1894, 
J. B. Solomon, Hawesville, Ky. 



DEDICATION. 



TO HER 
WHO, FOR FORTY- 
FIVE YEARS,HAS BEEN MY 
COMFORTER IN SORROW, MY SAFE 
COUNSELOR IN TIMES OF DOUBT, MY PART- 
NER IN JOY. MY SOLACE IN AFFLICTION; AND IS NOW 
MY STAY IN MY DECLINING YEARS — MY WIFE— 
THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE AFFEC- 
TIONATELY INSCRIBED BY 
HER DEVOTED 
HUSBAND. 



PREFACE. 



In sending forth this little treatise I would 
offer a word of explanation. Many valuable 
treatises have already been given to the world 
on the subject treated in the following pages. 
And it may seem presumptuous for one "un- 
known to fame " to offer anything to the read- 
ing public on a subject that has been so well 
discussed by abler men. My apology is found 
in the fact that those treatises that have fallen 
into my hands, at least, seem to me too scholar- 
ly for the average reader — that class that most 
needs a defence of the doctrines herein stated. 
It is for the benefit of this class more especial- 
ly that this tract is given to the world. I have 
confined myself to very narrow limits while I 
have been strongly tempted to a more general 
discussion of the subject. 

Praying that God may use it to His glory in 
the confirmation of the faith of His people in 
His divine Word, I send it forth upon its mis- 
sion. 

The Author. 



INTRODUCTION. 



I have found much satisfaction and profit in 
perusing the valuable treatise which follows. 
The learned author has brought the public un- 
der renewed obligations by calling attention to 
a topic that cannot be too earnestly considered. 
I believe that every reader must be impressed 
as I have been by the admirable fitness and 
clearness of the arrangement. His main con- 
tention is that the harmony of teaching in the 
sixty-six books of the Bible, notwithstanding 
the fact that the authors of them lived in dif- 
ferent ages and countries, under very diverse 
conditions, social, intellectual and moral, can 
only be explained by their being directed in 
thought and preserved from error by Divine 
Inspiration. The conception is ingenious and 
valuable, and it has been worked out with much 
patience and skill. The treatment is practical 
and devout. Under the influences of the Holy 
Spirit it cannot fail to produce excellent results. 
I sincerely hope that the book may be received 
with favor, finding attentive readers in many 
sections of the country. 

Wm. H. Whitsitt. 
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 
Louisville, Ky., July 27, 1894. 



THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 



CHAPTER I. 

INSPIRATION: WHAT IS IT? 

MUCH has been written on this subject by 
both friends and foes, and, no doubt, 
much more will be written. Whether an entire 
agreement, in many of the phases of the ques- 
tions involved, will ever be reached even by 
those who hold the writings of the Bible to be 
the inspired Word of God, may be adjourned 
to the decision of the future. There are doubt- 
less many discoveries yet to be made which 
will have important bearings on some of the 
questions now under discussion. The last half 
century has been prolific in bringing to light 
many records of long past ages, and the end is 
not yet. But, however that may be, there are 
clearly differences of views among Christian 
scholars of to-day, as to the nature and the 
extent of the inspiration of the sacred Books 
which constitute our Bible. But while these 
differences may be more of less important, 



6 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

varying from some that are radical to those 
that are of a mere speculative character, and, 
therefore of very minor importance, yet there 
is a universal consensus of opinion among them 
that God has given to man a supernatural Rev- 
elation of Himself and His government over 
the world, with all that this involves; and has 
inspired certain of His servants to make such 
records of these facts as He saw fit to make 
known to men; and that the Bible contains 
these records. 

But may not these differences exist, or, at 
least, may they not be greatly magnified in 
some instances, simply by the difference of 
terms used by different writers? In other 
words, may there not be less diversity of opin- 
ion respecting the doctrine, its nature and ex- 
tent, than the terms employed by different 
writers would seem to indicate? And when we 
consider the diversities in modes of expression 
by different men, when the thoughts are iden- 
tical, may there not be room for doubt as to 
whether the differences among those who ac- 
cept the Bible as containing a revelation from 
God, and as written by inspiration, are not un- 
duly magnified ? 



inspiration: what is it. 7 

It is well, therefore, for us, first of all, to 
enquire 

WHAT IS INSPIRATION 

as we use the term in reference to the claims 
of the Bible as a Book of divine Inspiration ? 

Inspiration is not Hevelation.— This all who 
have studied the matter will admit, at least in 
theory. And yet I have noticed that, in many 
instances, writers who recognize a difference of 
signification in the two terms, not infrequently 
use them as synonymous, and thus, confound- 
ing things that differ, fall into error. 

It is quite true that Revelation and Inspir- 
ation are often found co-existent in the writers 
of the Bible, but that fact does not make them 
identical. As an illustration: Events which 
were, at the time, in the remote future, were 
revealed to Isaiah and the other prophets whose 
writings have been handed down to us, and 
they were inspired to announce or put them on 
record for the benefit of men. But the revela- 
tion and the inspiration to announce or publish 
the revelation were different acts of the Holy 
Spirit exercised upon the same individual. 



8 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

It may be difficult for us to conceive of a 
supernatural Revelation unaccompanied by su- 
pernatural Inspiration, and yet this is not only 
possible, but has been an absolute fact in a 
number of instances recorded in the Bible. A 
striking instance of this kind is seen in the case 
of the servant of Elisha at Dothan. When 
he went out early in the morning, he beheld 
the city entirely surrounded by the Syrian army, 
which had been sent there by the King to cap- 
ture Elisha, and, badly alarmed, he cried out: 
"Alas, my master, what shall we do?" After 
assuring his servant that there were more with 
them than with the Syrians, Elisha prayed the 
Lord to open his servant's eyes that he might 
see. The Lord answered his prayer, and 
opened the eyes of the young man, and i4 He 
saw: and, behold the mountain was full of 
horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. " 
(II Ki. 6:17.) Here was a supernatural Reve- 
lation, but we have no evidence that the young 
man was ever the subject of any supernatural 
Inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

A similar instance of a revelation without 
inspiration is found in Pharaoh's dreams which 
were interpreted by Joseph, who said to Pha- 



inspiration: what is it. 9 

raoh: "God hath showed Pharaoh what He is 
about to do." (Gen. 41:25.) Other similar in- 
stances of divine Revelations without divine In- 
spiration will occur to the mind of the reader, 
but these will suffice for the present purpose. 

In the case of Elisha's servant there was no 
revelation of any future event, but simply of a 
present fact. Yet such was its nature that he 
could not have known the fact in the case 
without the aid of supernatural power. His 
eyes were, in some sense, so "opened" that he 
could see what was invisible to his natural 
power of vision. 

In the case of Pharaoh, a revelation was 
made to him of future events, through his 
dream, and the divinely inspired Joseph told 
him that the "Lord had shown him (Pharaoh) 
what He was about to do." In other words: 
God had revealed to him events yet future. 
And yet neither was Pharaoh inspired. Pha- 
raoh received the revelation, but Joseph was 
the inspired interpreter of the symbols em- 
ployed of God in making known His purposes. 
Neither Elisha's servant nor Pharaoh was in- 
spired. 

That there may be inspiration without reve- 



10 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

lation is, I think, beyond question. In fact, 
the larger portion of the contents of the Bible 
belongs to this class. All the historical por- 
tions of the Bible are inspired writings, but 
surely they are not all to be classed with su- 
pernatural Revelations. God never performs 
a useless or an unnecessary miracle. And 
what need could there have been of a Revelation 
to inform the historian of facts which he knew 
in the natural course of things, or with which 
he was personally identified^ or of which he 
was c 'magna pars ? ' ' and of which he was, from 
the natural order of events fully cognizant^. 
As illustration: What necessity was there for 
a supernatural Revelation to teach Moses that 
he had been brought up in Pharaoh's court as 
the adopted son of the Princess ? or that he had 
killed an Egyptian ? or that he had dwelt in 
Midian ? or that he saw the ' 'Burning bush ? ' ' 
etc., etc. All these things, nay, all the facts 
of his eventful life, after he reached* the age of 
their intelligent recognition were matters of 
his individual personal conscious experience 
and observation in regard to which no super- 
natural Revelation was needed. He only 
needed the inspiration of the Spirit of God to 



inspiration: what is it. 11 

prompt him to put the facts of his life on record, 
and to guide him in doing so — thus guarding 
him against mistake or forgetfulness. 

But when he was called to enter upon the 
great work of his life, for which God had de- 
signed him (though he had not known it until 
God revealed it to him) the deliverance of his 
people from Egyptian bondage, the promulga- 
tion of laws for their government both civil 
and religious, and the leading of the Israelites 
through the wilderness to Canaan, he needed 
not only Inspiration, but also Revelation, and 
this was given him. And the same may be 
said of many other historical parts of the Bible. 

The facts related in the first three chapters 
of Genesis were necessarily made known to 
man by Revelation only. 

Striking illustrations of this view are found 
in the narratives of the four Evangelists — 
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They con- 
tain accounts of the life and teachings of our 
Lord, as witnesses of the things they record, or 
as having knowledge of them through entirely 
trustworthy witnesses. This fact is clearly 
stated in the first four verses of Luke's gospel, 
which he afterward called his "treatise." (See 



12 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

Acts 1:1.) This statement is so important in 
this connection that I quote it in full. He 
writes: "Forasmuch as many have taken in 
hand to set forth in order a declaration (narra- 
tive) of those things which are most surely 
believed among us, even as they delivered them 
unto us, which from the beginning were eye- 
witnesses, and ministers of the Word; it seemed 
good to me also, having had perfect under- 
standing of all things from the very first, to 
write unto thee in order, most excellent The- 
ophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty 
of those things wherein thou hast been in- 
structed." (See Luke 1:1-4.) 

Of this language several things are worthy 
of special note, among them are the following: 

(1) Luke makes no reference to any super- 
natural revelation which he had received, and 
his silence on the subject is prima facie evi- 
dence that he had not received any such reve- 
lation. (2) Neither does he lay any claim to 
divine Inspiration in the composition of his 
' 'Treatise. ' ' He simply says : ' 'It seemed good 
to me," i. e., It seemed to me to be proper — 
right — that I should write an account of the 
life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. 



inspiration: what is it. 13 

(3) He does not claim ever to have seen Jesus, 
•or to have heard Him speak. Nor is it very 
probable he ever had. But he had derived the 
knowledge of all he wrote concerning Jesus 
from others who had been "eye-witnesses, and 
ministers of the Word" — perfectly trustworthy 
sources. Luke had derived his information 
from more than one eye-witness, how many we 
do not know, and he writes his narrative from 
information thus obtained. 

And yet every word of our Holy Scriptures 
was written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of 
God. It was by this divine impulse, this 
moving of the Holy Spirit, upon the hearts and 
minds of men, that these Sacred Records were 
made. Whether the writers realized this fact 
at the time — whether they were conscious that 
the Spirit was using and directing them, or 
whether they wrote as of their own wills, irre- 
spective of divine influences impelling and 
guiding them to do what they did, does not 
matter. I apprehend it might have been said 
of most if not all of these historians: Ci Ye 
know not what spirit ye are of." What man 
lives to-day who can, with confidence, claim 
to be able to trace the impulses which give di- 



14 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

rection to his life to their primal source ? From 
the very nature and constitution of man, there 
does not live one who can do so. 

So far, then, as our sacred historians knew 
they, most probably, wrote as simple individ- 
uals who felt an interest in the matters of which 
they wrote and wished to transmit a knowledge 
of them to posterity, while they were at the 
same time completely under the control of that 
invisible and unrecognized Power — the Holy 
Spirit of God. He used them as He has many a 
man, who knew no supreme God in the matter, 
unwittingly to do His will — notably, Cyrus. 
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," 
etc. (II Tim. 3:16.) "Holy men of God spake 
as they were moved (impelled, guided,) by the 
Holy Ghost." (II Pet. 1:21). To the same 
purport our Lord said to His disciples. "But 
the Comforter (Advocate), which is the Holy 
Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, 
He shall teach you all things, and bring all 
things to your remembrance whatsoever I have 
said unto you." (Jno. 14:26.) "He shall re- 
ceive of mine, and show it unto you." (Jno. 
16:14.) In these Scriptures the inspiration of 
the Spirit promised to the disciples is to enable 



inspiration: what is it. 15 

them to remember what Jesus had said to them. 
No new revelations were promised them. But 
in the performance of their duties in making 
the gospel known, whether orally or by written 
statements, they should have the power and 
guidance of the Spirit to insure to them a cor- 
rect memory of what He had taught them, thus 
guarding them against all error. 

This work of the Spirit is an inspiration, and 
a sure protection against mistakes in the prop- 
agation of the gospel of salvation to man, and 
leads His subject "into all (sacred) truth." 

Just here arises the question as the nature 
of the Inspiration thus imparted. Was it verbal, 
or what is known as "plenary" ? or was it only 
an impartation of the thought or truth which 
left the writer to express it in his own lan- 
guage ? On this question it is known that there 
is a difference of opinion among Biblical stu- 
dents and exegetes — some holding one, and 
some the other view. No doubt both parties 
are honest in their convictions. But I can not 
see why such a difference should exist, nor why 
there should be so much discussion of the ques- 
tion, for, as I understand the parties to this 
discussion, all agree that the Spirit guided the 



16 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

willing and obedient minds of those whom He 
inspired into the truth, whether done by a dic- 
tation of the very words, or by dictating the 
facts or doctrine only, leaving the scribe to 
clothe it in his own language. 

But a question arises as to whether it is pos- 
sible for a man to think — to have a thought — 
except as he clothes it in what we call language. 
Can man think without some symbol or lan- 
guage embodying his thought ? To my mind 
it is utterly impossible. Thought must have 
some sensible form in which to reside. A 
thought without a vehicle of thought is to me 
unthinkable. This vehicle may represent ar- 
ticulate sounds, or mere vocals; it may be lin- 
gual or manual, pictorial or hieroglyphical, ob- 
jective or subjective, but, whatever it may be, 
it serves the purpose of language. This being 
true, it is impossible to impart an idea or a 
thought to the human mind except through the 
medium of language, or that which supplies its 
place and is its equivalent. 

As to the metaphysical questions of mental 
operations and their laws, I do not propose to 
discuss them here. I treat this question simply 
as one of fact. And, as a fact, man can no 



inspiration: what is it. 17 

more think without a vehicle of thought than 
he can think of color without thinking of a col- 
ored object. Now let the reader make ex- 
periment and see whether he can think of color 
in the abstract, L e., without a colored object. 
I am sure that the experiment will prove that 
a thought without something corresponding to 
what we mean by language, or a conception of 
color without a colored object is an impossibil- 
ity. 

The same law applies to our concepts of 
moral qualities. These are all unthinkable 
apart from a subject, as goodness, wisdom, etc. 
We can not think of them in the abstract. 

The conclusion from this fact, then, is, that 
a divine inspiration imparted to man necessi- 
tates a plenary or verbal inspiration. Neces- 
sarily, according to the teachings of the Bible 
itself, and to this law of mental operations this 
is a Book the very words of which are dictated 
by the Holy Spirit. But this is so done that the 
individuality of the several scribes is preserved 
throughout. 



18 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

In general terms then 

DIVINE INSPIRATION 

is such an impartation of the Holy Spirit's in- 
fluences to man as teaches him the will of God, 
and prompts him to willing and loving obedi- 
ence to that will, guiding him in the ways of 
truth and holiness. It is, as the word indicates, 
an in-breathing of the Holy Spirit into the soul 
of man, and to that extent imparting to it the 
divine nature. 

According to this view, such impartation has 
not been confined to any age of the race of 
man. That fullness of the inspiration which 
may be called miraculous may have passed 
away with the Apostles, but the holy impulses 
imparted to man by the Spirit of God to-day 
may be properly called inspirations. There 
may be, and doubtless are various degrees of 
the Holy Spirit's influences imparted to differ- 
ent persons, and to the same persons at differ- 
ent times. But every holy purpose, every holy 
desire, every earnest prayer, every sacred joy 
and every truly righteous act is a result of the 
in-breathing of the Holy Spirit. They are not 
of earth. ''Without me ye can do nothing" 



inspiration: what is it. 19 

[good], (John 15:5.) "Likewise, the Spirit 
helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what 
we should pray for as we ought." (Rom. 8:26.) 
Our loving Saviour has promised the abiding 
presence and aid of the Spirit to all His disci- 
ples to the end of time. Nor do I regard these 
operations of His Spirit as mere illuminations. 
Every act of true Christian obedience is the 
result of Spiritual influence upon man's heart — 
an impelling, constraining power. But He 
teaches no new doctrines — makes no new 
revelations. He enlightens men through the 
Word, which He has already given and moves 
them to obedience to that Word. He begets 
in men a hatred of sin and a love of holiness. 



20 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 



CHAPTER II. 

MANY PORTIONS OF THE BIBLE NOT 
INSPIRED. 

BEFORE entering upon the line of proof and 
argument which I propose to pursue in the 
discussion of this subject, in order to prevent 
confusion, I think it well to consider some pre- 
liminary matters. Of course such matters are 
familiar to those who have had the time and 
facilities for studying them. But as I write for 
the benefit of the masses who have not had 
such opportunities for investigation as well as 
for others who have, I think it well to notice 
the topic of this chapter somewhat in detail, 
especially as it has furnished occasions to cer- 
tain classes of scoffers to disturb the spiritual 
peace of earnest believers. Hence the matters 
referred to assume an importance which would 
not otherwise attach to them. It is a recog- 
nized principle, that whatever essentially affects 
a man's religious life is important. 

When we say that the Bible was written by 
men inspired of God, it is not meant that the 



MANY PORTIONS OF THE BIBLE NOT INSPIRED. 21 

entire contents — all its statements — are the dic- 
tations of the Holy Spirit. No one has ever 
claimed this. Very many passages are quota- 
tions from wicked men, while others record the 
language of demons, and others still the lan- 
guage of the arch-fiend himself. This will evi- 
dently occur to even a casual reader of the 
Book. I will give a few out of the many ex- 
amples of this character, taking some from the 
Old Testament and some from the New. 

4 'And Pharaoh said: Who is the Lord that I 
should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know 
not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." 
(Ex. 5:2. ) Of course we know that this entire 
passage, except the first three words, is not 
only uninspired of God, but it is the language 
of a wicked tyrant who, as he said, "knew 
nothing" of the God of Israel, who is the 
Author of the Book. 

Again: "And he (Sanballat) spake before his 
brethren and the army of Samaria and said: 
What do these feeble Jews? Will they fortify 
themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they 
make an end in a day? Will they revive the 
stones out of the heaps of rubbish which are 
burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by 



22 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

him, and lie said: Even that which they build, 
if a fox go up, he shall even break down their 
stone wall.' 1 (Neh. 4:2,3.) The language of 
Sanballat and Tobiah, here inserted by the his- 
torian, so far from being inspired by the Holy 
Spirit, is the language of scorn and derision 
against the people of God, and, hence, against 
God Himself. 

"Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, 
saying, So let the Gods do to me, and more also, 
if I make not thy life as one of them [the proph- 
ets of Baal whom Elijah had slain] by to-mor- 
row about this time. 1 ' (IKi. 19:2.) This is the 
message which Jezebel, that wicked and idol- 
atrous queen, wife of the wicked king of Israel, 
Ahab, sent to Elijah when she learned of the 
slaughter of her priests, the priests of Baal, 
after that wonderful display of divine inter- 
position on mount Carmel, when fire came down 
from heaven and consumed the sacrifice which 
Elijah, His true prophet, had placed upon the 
altar — in which incident there is a fearful dis- 
play of the severity of divine justice against 
false teachers who lead the people astray with 
false doctrines and lying wonders; and a won- 
derful manifestation of divine power and mercy 



MANY PORTIONS OF THE BIBLE NOT INSPIRED. 23 

in the vindication of His true and obedient 
servants. 

Of course a great many passages of a similar 
character might be quoted from the Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures. But I forbear; nor would I 
have quoted these, but that I suppose the aver- 
age reader would hardly pause to examine them 
simply from a reference to them. 

Passing for the present from the Old we will 
note a few instances of such records of unin- 
spired matter found in the 

NEW TESTAMENT. 

Without quoting the many charges preferred 
against Jesus and His doctrines, by ungodly 
Scribes and Pharisees, during His active minis- 
try, all of which He turned against themselves, 
and thereby vindicated His claim to be the 
Son of God, suppose we turn to the accounts 
given by the Evangelists of His arrest, trial, 
condemnation and crucifixion, and strike there- 
from all that is reported to have been said by 
ungodly men, His murderers, who were parties 
to the proceedings that culminated in His death, 
what real intelligence could we have of the 
various stages in the enactment of that awful 



24 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

tragedy? In what way could the condemnation 
and crucifixion of Jesus have been justified from 
a civil or legal point of view without a knowl- 
edge of the influence which the Jews exerted 
upon the Roman governor, Pilate? and how 
could we know the nature and the extent of that 
influence without a knowledge of what they 
said — the charges they preferred against Him, 
false though they were, and the arguments they 
used, however flimsy, to compass their end — 
the death of Jesus? 

A great many instances similar to these here 
given might be cited from both Testaments, but 
these are sufficient to indicate what we mean 
when we say that there are many uninspired 
passages in the Bible, i. e., passages not dic- 
tated by the Spirit of God, and therefore, in that 
sense are not inspired. 

But while their utterance was not by the dic- 
tation of the Spirit of God, their insertion into 
the Bible was — they are there by divine guid- 
ance and authority. Holy men of old were 
prompted by the Spirit of God to insert just 
enough of these uninspired and wicked utter- 
ances of men and devils to serve the purposes 
of infinite Love and Wisdom in making known 



MANY PORTIONS OF THE BIBLE NOT INSPIRED. 25 

His will to the children of men. Without such 
insertions the narrative would often be incom- 
plete, and hence unintelligible. As an illus- 
tration: The inspired prayer of Nehemiah, 
which, in the Record, immediately follows the 
language of Sanballat and Tobiah quoted above, 
would be pointless and unintelligible without a 
knowledge of the immediate antecedent cause, 
the sarcastic utterances and threatening attitude 
of these enemies. And the same may be said 
concerning the statements and the facts con- 
nected with the defiant language of Pharaoh 
concerning the divine commands to let the chil- 
dren of Israel go. It requires a knowledge of 
his rejection of the divine authority to enable 
us to see the justice of the severity of the pun- 
ishments inflicted upon him and his kingdom as 
recorded in the Book of 4 ; Exodus. ' ' Nor could 
the flight of Elijah from the scenes of his former 
triumphs and his concealment in the wilderness 
with their related facts be accounted for without 
a knowledge of the threat that Jezebel had made 
that she would have him slain. 

These instances are given simply as indicative 
of the necessity for the 'insertion of much unin- 
spired language to the completeness of the 



26 THOUGHTS OX INSPIRATION. 

Record and to a proper understanding of the 
facts stated. In other words: They are neces- 
sary to connected narrative, and to the develop- 
ment of the causes of subsequent events and 
their relation to antecedent facts. And, besides 
this, they serve to illustrate the justice and 
mercy exercised by the divine Ruler in His 
government of the race and "Thus vindicate 
the ways of God to men." 

Hence, to reject the doctrine of the inspira- 
tion and consequent authority of the Bible be- 
cause of the presence of such passages as are 
confessedly uninspired is to defy reason and 
reject the plainest dictates of propriety and 
common sense, and to stultify the universal 
practice of the best writers, sacred and profane, 
ancient and modern. 

Instead of affording an argument against the 
inspiration and consequent trustworthiness of 
the Bible, properly considered, they confirm 
both in a variety of ways, a few of which are 
the following: (1) It touches profane history in 
simple allusions but with a directness and fear- 
lessness of contradiction which is striking and 
which indicates conscious truthfulness, giving 
the names and nationalities of the speakers and 



MANY PORTIONS OF THE BIBLE NOT INSPIRED. 27 

the actors, whose language is quoted and whose 
actions are recorded. This fact combined with 
the simplicity of their style and evident con- 
sciousness of veracity of their record on the part 
of the writers rationally compel belief. (2) By 
the insertion of these uninspired utterances 
many historical facts are accounted for which 
would otherwise be unaccountable. How could 
we account for the peaceful returns of the Jews 
from their captivity in Babylon to their own 
Canaan without a knowledge of the "Decrees" 
issued by Cyrus, and Darius, and Darius Hys- 
taspes with all their related facts as recorded 
by Ezra and Nehemiah? Without these docu- 
ments being given, we should have ground for 
serious doubt as to the truthfulness of the Re- 
cord; but with these "Decrees" before us all 
is clear. 

Thus we might continue to specify cases ad 
lib. which go to show the necessity there was 
for the insertion of the uninspired matter into 
the divine Book, that the truth might appear, 
and that "Holy men of old" were moved by 
the Holy Spirit to incorporate these sayings of 
wicked men and of devils into the Book of 



28 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

divine Inspiration. But these instances are 
sufficient. 

Before passing from the consideration of un- 
inspired sayings incorporated with the inspired 
portions of the Bible, I think it well to notice 
the question whether it is admissible for the 
preacher to use such uninspired portions as texts 
or bases of sermons. It is known that some, 
perhaps a majority, of our best and wisest wri- 
ters on the subject object to such use being 
made of them. But to my mind the objection 
rests on insufficient ground. That is, they are 
no parts of the Inspired Word of God, I offer 
the following suggestions: Though known to be 
uninspired, they have been put into the volume 
of Inspiration under the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit, as claimed above, and as admitted by all 
who claim or admit the Bible to be the Word of 
God. And while this fact may not be recog- 
nized as sufficient proof that such passages may 
be used as texts for sermons, it is, at least, pre- 
sumptive evidence that they may be so used. 
But Paul's language to Timothy (2 Tim. 3:16, 17) 
seems to put the question to rest in the affirm- 
ative: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of 
God, and is profitable," etc. Or, if we accept 



MANY PORTIONS OF THE BIBLE NOT INSPIRED. 29 

the Canterbury revision, "All Scripture given," 
etc., the affirmative is still more strongly sus- 
tained. In either case, the volume of inspira- 
tion as a whole is referred to, and the affirma- 
tive is sustained. 

Besides, is it not true that our Saviour, on 
several occasions, used the language of some of 
His bitterest enemies as texts for short sermons? 
There are two such sermons recorded in the 
12th chapter of Matthew's gospel, one begin- 
ning with the 24th verse, and ending with the 
37th: the other beginning with the 39th verse 
and ending with the 45th. The first is based 
on the charge of the Pharisees, that he cast 
out devils through Beelzebub, the prince of the 
devils. The second was based upon the lan- 
guage of the Scribes and Pharisees when they 
said to Him, "Master, we would see a sign 
from thee." No doubt the "Master" preached 
much longer sermons from these texts than 
have been reported by Matthew, or Mark, or 
Luke, all of whom report these sermons more 
or less fully. And there are many other simi- 
lar instances which will recur to the mind of the 
reader very readily, at least, if at all familiar 
with the gospels. 



30 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

On the day of Pentecost when under the in- 
fluence of the miraculous effusion of the Holy 
Spirit, "The disciples began to speak with other 
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance," 
and the multitude were astonished at what they 
saw and heard, some of them said: "These men 
are full of new wine." Then Peter arose, and 
if he did not take the charge of intoxication as 
a text, he certainly used it as the occasion for 
the sermon he preached on that day — that 
memorable sermon on that memorable day, for 
he began by saying: "These are not drunk a& 
ye suppose." 

For these and other reasons which I need not 
now give, with all due respect for the opinions 
of others, and with the highest esteem for their 
scholarship and judgment, in matters pertaining 
to Biblical interpretation and homiletical pro- 
priety, I must demur to the idea of the inad- 
missibility of such Scriptures as proper topics 
or texts for pulpit or sermonic discussion. Take, 
for example: "Almost thou persuadest me to be 
a Christian"; "Paul, thou art beside thyself, 
much learning doth make thee mad," etc., etc. 



MAN'S TEMPTATION AND FALL. THE TEMPTER. 31 



CHAPTEK III, 

MAN'S temptation and fall, the 

TEMPTER. 

THUS far we have considered in a general 
way the fact and the nature of inspiration 
and some reasons for the insertion of uninspired 
matter or language in the volume of divine In- 
spiration, and, incidentally, the use that the 
preacher may make of these uninspired por- 
tions as texts or bases for pulpit ministrations. 
Nor do I call to mind a single instance of the 
insertion of uninspired language the insertion 
of which is not necessary to a proper compre- 
hension of the incidents or the doctrines with 
the narration or statement of which it stands 
connected. Should any claim that such instances 
exist, it will rest with such claimant to point 
them out. 

There is in the Bible a brief account of an 
occurrence which lies at the base of human his- 
tory, and which demands more than a passing 
notice. I refer to the source or origin of all 
our woe in this life and the life to come; and at 



32 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

the risk of being considered tedious, I propose 
to notice it somewhat in detail. Of course, I 
refer to the temptation and fall of man from 
his original state of innocence, and which is 
described as having been accomplished by the 
being called "the devil" in the form of a 
"serpent." 

In this account ' of that sad event the very 
words employed by the serpent in the temptation 
he presented to Eve are recorded and are abso- 
lutely essential to a complete understanding of 
the transaction with all' its related facts and 
doctrines. Omit the tempter's language as it is 
recorded in the first five verses of Gen., Ill 
chap., and the history is so mutilated as to be- 
come unintelligible. That many perplexing 
questions arise in regard to the scenes and facts 
stated in the record, is freely admitted. But 
that can not discredit the narrative given. We 
are brought into daily contact — face to face, as 
it were — with thousands of facts as mysterious 
to us as this is. And, yet, with all this mys- 
tery, this is the most rational account of man's 
sad and sinful condition of any yet presented, or 
invented. No other theory adequately accounts 
for man's existence, or for his condition in life. 



MAN'S TEMPTATION AND FALL. THE TEMPTER. 33 

Whether the facts here recorded concerning 
the fall of man and the sentences pronounced 
upon him and the serpent were, primarily mat- 
ters of supernatural revelation to the writer of 
Genesis as we now have it, or only a result of 
divine inspiration, may admit of a doubt. It 
is possible that Adam was inspired of God to 
make a record of the temptation and fall from 
his personal knowledge of the facts. 

That the i 'serpent ? ' which was made the agent 
in the temptation through Satanic influence, was 
a very different animal from what it has been 
since, is clear from the description here given 
of it. "Now the serpent was more subtle 
(shrewd, cunning,) than any beast of the field 
which the Lord God had made." (1. ) Then, it 
belonged, not to the genus of "creeping things" 
here classed together, but to the beasts of the 
field" or wild beasts. (2.) It constituted a 
species of this genus. The comparison, then is 
that of the serpent species, with all the other 
species of the same genus. In this comparison, 
it is called the shrewdest, the most cunning of 
them all, the anthrop>omorphic apes not excepted. 
By the Biblical nomenclature, used in this con- 
nection, terrestrial animals, man excepted, were 



34 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

divided into three genera, viz.: "Cattle, 'creep- 
ing things' and beasts of the field," or wild 
beasts. Under this classification the serpent, 
as it now is, would belong to the class, creepers. 
But the writer of Genesis calls it a "beast of 
the field," thereby placing it in the third class 
of his classification, otherwise his comparison 
is bewildering in the extreme. 

Again: The serpent that was used as the 
agent in the betrayal of the woman into sin 
spake to her in articulate language, nay, more, 
in human speech, and through the satanic influ- 
ence which controlled him (or it) "beguiled" 
her into a violation of her Maker's command. 

That the beast, here called "Serpent," was 
at that time the most highly organized and en- 
dowed of all terrestrial animals, man only ex- 
cepted, to my mind, does not admit of a doubt. 
One of the results of the. divine curse put upon 
it was that it should henceforth "go upon its 
belly." If this had been its previous manner 
of locomotion, there would have been no pun- 
ishment in it, and yet it is stated as part of the 
punishment inflicted for allowing himself made 
the agent of man's sin and consequent fall. 

Moreover: The language of Jehovah in pro- 



man's temptation and fall, the tempter. 35 

nouncing his sentence seems to indicate that 
the serpent possessed sufficient moral nature, 
and, hence, moral responsibility to make it a 
fit subject for punishment on moral grounds. 
4 'Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed 
above all cattle and above every beast of the 
field. " This is what the "Lord God said to the 
serpent." This language clearly implies that 
the serpent had consciously and willingly lent 
himself to the perpetration of a crime against 
God, and that he had sinned against man, and 
"beguiled" him to his ruin is implied in the 
fact that God "Put enmity between him and the 
woman," etc. He must, therefore, have pos- 
sessed a moral nature though it may have been 
and doubtless was of a very low type, as the 
punishment inflicted was purely corporeal. 

With this transformation, involved in the 
curse pronounced upon it, the type of the orig- 
inal serpent ended. Possibly, this is the c 'Missing 
Link," which a certain class of scientists have 
so long and laboriously sought for in vain. 
With the transformation named above the pri- 
mordial serpent-species ceased and was succeed- 
ed by or changed into the form and nature of 
the serpent of succeeding ages. One fact in 



36 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

favor of the idea of its being the "Missing 
Link" is, that it touches the human age, and 
that is one of the conditions required by said 
scientists. The original of the species begin- 
ning and ending with the first individual of that 
form of the species could not leave a fossil of 
its primal form. 

I am aware of the fact that this hypothesis 
does not meet the requirements of Mr. Darwin's 
theory of Evolution, but it may indicate the 
fallacy of his theory and help his followers to 
find that "missing linkSl 

In this account of man's fall from his prim- 
itive purity and happiness we have the only 
satisfactory solution of his present sad condi- 
tion. But it is worthy of remark, that every 
reference to man's sinful and unhappy condi- 
tion in the Bible, however remote the reference 
may be, or however incidental, points back to 
the sad scenes of Eden, as described in the 3d. 
chapter of Genesis, as the solution of the ques- 
tion of this sad state. The devil told Eve a 
long time ago that God had lied, and Huxley, 
Haeckel, et id omne genus, is telling the same 
thing now. 

Accepting the condition of things as described 



MAN'S TEMPTATION AND FALL. THE TEMPTER. 3T 

in the record, the process of the temptation as 
presented is natural and consistent with itself 
and that condition. The tempter approaches 
the ivoman in the person of that type of animal 
nearest the human, speaks to her in human lan- 
guage, manifests the intensest interest in and 
desire for the happiness and welfare of herself 
and husband. By these means, having gained 
her attention and interest in what he is saying, 
the way is open for the consummation of his 
diabolical purpose. I suppose he took of the 
forbidden fruit and ate it in her presence, to 
convince her it was harmless. "And when the 
woman saw that the tree was good for food she 
took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave 
also unto her husband with her, and he did 
eat." 

"Earth felt the wound and nature from her seat* 
Sighing through all her works, gave signs of 
Woe, that all was lost." 

Thus was man introduced to the arch enemy 
of God, and man, through whose lying flattery 
Paradise was lost and man driven forth to toil, 
and want, and pain, and disappointment, and 
sorrow, and death, and made the victim of the 



38 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

thousands of ills which affect him in this life, 
and, except as redeemed and saved by the 
blood of Christ Jesus — "the Seed of the wo- 
man," — the inheritor of everlasting woe in the 
world to come — the eternal ages: 

' ; The fruit 
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste 
Brought death into the icorld, and all our woe." 

The scenes here described transpired thou- 
sands of years ago, and yet this same enemy 
plies the same arts, pursues the same plan, prac- 
tices the same wiles, and still succeeds in be- 
guiling the children of the woman to their ruin 
by his devices. This is, in brief, the Biblical 
account of the introduction of sin into the 
world. It is short, simple, direct, and related 
-with an air of truth, and bears the impress of 
the divine Author. 

It is to be observed, too, that the traits or 
elements of character of the arch deceiver pre- 
sented in this narrative are persistently pre- 
served throughout the entire volume of Inspir- 
ation. Wherever referred to, whether by 
Patriarch, Lawgiver, Poet or Prophet; or by our 
Lord or his apostles the elements of his charac- 



MAN'S TEMPTATION AND FALL. THE TEMPTER. 39 

ter as developed in this history of the temptation 
are constant quantities. He is the same deceiver, 
liar, tempter, enemy of (rod and of all righteous- 
ness, the destroyer of the peace and happiness 
of mankind. He is the same insidious, malev- 
olent, active and dangerous being whether called 
"devil," or "satan," or "apolyon,"or ; 'drag- 
on," or "serpent," or "the prince of the power 
of the air," or "the father of lies." Every- 
where in the Bible he has individuality and the 
elements of personality. And while there is 
no formal description given of his origin or of 
his manner of being there is no mistaking the 
elements of his being nor his power over men. 
He is nowhere in the Bible represented as a 
myth or a mere principle of evil inherent in 
mundane existences, or in matter. His very 
nature is moral corruption — the aggregation of 
all evil. Evil, and only evil, and always evil. 

Several questions are sometimes asked as a 
sort of parry to appeals made to serve Grod: 
"Where did the devil come from?" "Why did 
God allow him to tempt man?" "Where did 
sin originate?" etc. 

We may not be able to answer such ques- 
tions. But that sin is in the world is clearly 



40 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

enough to be seen. That all men are sinners 
is clear. That sin will be punished is testified 
by the race. The practical question is: What 
will I, you, do about it? That this uniformity 
of description of the satanic nature and influ- 
ence should be preserved throughout the writ- 
ings constituting our Bible without divine 
guidance is hardly to be supposed possible; and 
especially does the improbability, at least, of 
such a fact appear when we remember that the 
writers of the Bible lived and wrote amid very 
diverse environments, possessed various degrees 
of natural and of acquired abilities, and that the 
time of their composition embraced a period of 
at least 1500 years — from the death of Moses 
to that of John — (and this is affirmed the 
"Higher Criticism," to the contrary notwith- 
standing). 

But as it respects the consistency and har- 
mony observable throughout our sacred Or- 
acles in the work attributed to the devil, they 
certainly show that the writers whatever may 
have been their individual peculiarites of men- 
tal constitution, or of their environments, must 
have been guided by the same Spirit. This 
identity of description or of representation is 



MAN'S TEMPTATION AND FALL. THE TEMPTER. 41 

not found among pagan writers in their descrip- 
tions of their demons. Whence this difference 
between the two classes of writers? 1 think it 
clear that it arises from the fact that one clas& 
was guided by the Spirit of God, the other was 
not. 



42 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

CHAPTER IV. 

DEITY. 

DY the universal consent of the race, there is 
-L' a supreme Power, who is the Creator and 
Ruler of the universe, though unseen by man. 
All the nations of the earth recognize the exist- 
ence of such a Power or Being. It is true that 
there are and have been individual exceptions 
to the rule, men who deny the existence of a Su- 
preme Ruler. "The fool hath said in his heart 
there is no God." There are men who, though 
the creatures of God and the subjects of His 
constant care, and the recipients of His unfail- 
ing mercies, eliminate Him from the universe 
He has created and sustains. "Professing 
themselves to be wise they are become fools." 
"The carnal mind is emnity against God" 
solves the question of the denial of His exist- 
ence and sovereignty. It is "Because men do 
not like to retain God in their thoughts" nor 
submit to His authority that they fail to see 
Him in His works and spurn His Word. 



DEITY. 43 

The Bible reveals God to man — the one only 
living and true God, besides whom there is no 
God. And among the writers of all these 
Books constituting our Bible, with all their di- 
versified talents, tastes and conditions of life, 
there are no discrepancies nor variations in 
representations in regard to Him. What He is 
in Genesis He is throughout the entire Record, 
without a shadow of inconsistency or variation. 
Unlike the Gods of the heathen nations, He 
is One, and is neither a myth, nor chance, nor 
blind fate, nor a deified human hero, nor an 
abstraction. In every reference to Him, He is 
the same God unchanged and unchangeable. 

It is very true, that the nature of His being 
and His attributes are not fully manifested db 
initio. On the contrary, His divine character, 
the purposes of His divine government, and the 
plan and means for the accomplishment of these 
purposes are harmoniously unfolded. Happy 
is he who comprehends and conforms to this 
plan. 

This gradual development of the moral 
economy of the divine government is in har- 
mony with the gradual developments observ- 
able in the material world. Some one has said: 



44 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

Natura saltern non noscit. This simply means 
that God has proceeded, and still proceeds by 
regular gradations to accomplish His purposes 
in the natural world. This law of development 
or evolution along given lines is everywhere 
manifest both in the material and immaterial 
realms of nature. It would, therefore, appear 
very strange indeed, if He had made an excep- 
tion to this otherwise universal law of His own 
appointment and observance, in His moral 
realm, and had made a full and complete reve- 
lation of Himself, His plan of moral govern- 
ment over the world and the consummation of 
all His purposes from the beginning. Had He 
thus done it would have given strong grounds 
for rational doubt whether the God of nature is 
the God of the Bible, so diverse would the 
methods of procedure have been. 

But however gradual or slow the develop- 
ment of the nature of His being and of His 
attributes; and the nature of His government 
over and gracious purposes toward man have 
been and still are, there are entire harmony and 
uniformity in the delineations given of them all 
in His Word — The Bible. There is no contra- 
diction, nor even contrariety, except in forms 



DEITY. 45 

of expression, in the descriptions given. Every 
where He is the same God, revealing Himself 
to man more and more through various institu- 
tions and communications, "At sundry times 
and in divers manners," until, "In the fulness 
of time" He put on human flesh and "dwelt 
among us," as the Son, "full of grace and 
truth," "The brightness of the Father's glory, 
and the express image of His person" and "In 
whom dwelleth all the fulness of the God-head 
(Deity) bodily." Every reference to Him or 
to His nature in the entire Bible is harmonious 
with each other, the only possible difference 
being that one may be more or less elaborate 
than another. The God of the Bible never 
contradicts Himself. The God of Adam is the 
God of Enoch, and of Abraham and the Patri- 
archs, and of Moses and of all the Prophets, 
and of the Apostles — the God of heaven and of 
earth — the everlasting and unchangeable God — 
"the living and the true God," "Besides whom 
there is no God." 

The same God who said to Adam: "Of the 
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou 
shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest 
thereof thou shalt surely die" (Heb. dying, thou 



46 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

shalt die) said through John on the isle of Pat- 
mos: "The Spirit and the bride say, Come; 
and let him that heareth say, Come; and who- 
soever will, let him take the water of life freely. " 
"To him that overjometh, I will give to eat of 
the tree of life which is in the midst of the 
Paradise of God." And this last message of 
God to man is but the consummation of His 
purpose as expressed in the garden of Eden: I 
will put enmity between thee (the serpent) and 
the woman, and between thy seed and her seedr 
it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise 
his heel." 

Thus through a long series of developments, 
the obscure promise of Eden develops into the 
ineffable glories of Patmos. 

The supreme gods of the most enlightened 
heathen nations of antiquity were fickle, capri- 
cious, vengeful, lewd, and themselves subject 
to inexorable Fate. "So the Fates have de- 
creed" was the end of controversy in the coun- 
cils of their gods. These decrees were unalter- 
able however much their supreme god, Jupiter 
or Zeus might wish it otherwise. 

In the incidental delineations of the being and 
nature of the God of the Bible, there is a dig- 



DEITY. 4T 

nity and stateliness of portraiture compared 
with which the rhapsodies of a Homer or a Vir- 
gil dwindle into the merest puerilities, though 
the products of lofty poetic genius. 

Is it possible to account for the exalted tone 
of style, the grandeur of sentiment, the sublim- 
ity of conception, and the perfect harmony in 
the description of the God of the Bible, among 
so many writers of such diverse endowments, 
living in such widely separated ages and amidst 
such various environments as did the original 
writers of the Bible, except upon the supposi- 
tion that they were guided by the same Spirit ? 
and, that that Spirit was, the Holy Spirit of 
God? Upon any other supposition the com- 
position of the Bible is the most stupendous 
miracle imaginable. All the miracles it records 
would dwindle into insignificance in comparison 
with it. 

The writers of our Bible never entered upon 
an argument to prove by logical processes that 
God exists. Their proofs are facts, not theo- 
ries nor arguments. Neither did they assume 
that there is a God, as we sometimes hear. If 
there was any assumption in the matter, it was 
that man, the race, recognized the existence of 



48 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

God, as Creator and Ruler of the universe He 
had created. Nor do we anywhere in the 
Bible find any detailed or connected portraiture 
or description of His nature and attributes. 
These writers hnew that God existed. As well 
might we say that a man having the full pos- 
session of all his physical organs of sense in 
healthy exercise assumes the existence of the 
sun, or any of the material things with which 
he comes into daily contact. It is common for 
us to assume that those whom we address know 
that there is a sun and a world of matter round 
about them. This is according to facts. 

The Sacred writers knew that God exists, 
for He made Himself known to them. This 
He did in various ways. The most usual 
manner seems to have been by oral communi- 
cations. "God who at sundry times and in 
divers manners spake unto the fathers by the 
prophets, etc." He spake to Adam both be- 
fore and after the fall. He spake to Cain after 
he had become a fratricide. He spake to Noah and 
to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; to Moses 
and Samuel, and to a long line of prophets un- 
der the Old Dispensation. He talked to these 
holy men as man talks to man. If asked how 



DEITY. 49 

we know He thus spake to them, we reply: 
(1) They say He did, and their testimony is 
uncontradicted by any competent witness. (2) 
This testimony bears every mark of truthful- 
ness, (a) It is given in such a simple and di- 
rect manner that it commands, and to an earn- 
est, honest inquirer, compels assent to its 
truthfulness. The candor and honesty of these 
writers are shown by the fact that they record 
their own sins and mistakes, and their con- 
sequent reproof and condemnation therefor in 
the same manner as they do their obedience to 
God and consequent blessing. This is not the 
practice of imposters and false witnesses. 
These writers have "Nothing concealed, noth- 
ing extenuated, nor set down aught in mal- 
ice." Their very style proclaims that they 
have "plain unvarnished" truths unfolded. 
Their statements bear upon their faces the 
stamp of honesty and truthfulness, (b) They 
have been accepted as true by those who are 
their lineal descendents, who have preserved 
and venerated them as holy writings, divinely 
inspired from the remotest ages of recorded 
time. The contents of the writings, including 
the Revelations they have made which were 



50 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

future at the times of their composition, have 
been such as no mere human sagacity of any 
age could have conceived. The fulfilment of 
their prophecies has attested their divine in- 
spiration. In their very terms as well as in 
their spirit they differ as widely from the fren- 
zied utterances from the celebrated Delphic 
Oracle as light does from darkness. Now I 
emphasize this question, why this difference? 
(d) The writings of the Old Testament were 
quoted and endorsed by our Lord Jesus Christ 
and his inspired Apostles as of Divine author- 
ity, (e) The history of the descendants of 
Abraham and the present condition of the Jews 
afford strong corroborative proof of the truth- 
fulness of both the Old and the New Testament 
Scriptures, and hence, of their divine origin 
and authority. 

These writings alone solve the thousands of 
enigmas of not only Jewish but of human his- 
tory. 

It is not in the. line of my purpose to discuss 
at present these several points, nor even to 
adduce passages or facts in illustration of them. 
But such is their aggregate force and value, in 
my estimation, that when one of these holy 



DEITY. 51 

(not perfect) men says that the "Lord said unto 
Moses, (or Noah, etc.) thus and so, " I am con- 
strained to believe him — rationally, I can not 
refuse to believe. (3) The holiest and some of 
the wisest men of whom history gives us any 
knowledge received this Word as divine Truth, 
and ascribed whatever of merit they possessed 
to its mysterious influence. With Paul they 
would say: "By the grace of God, I am what I 
am." To this rule there is no exception. 
When Jesus prayed: "Sanctify them (his disci- 
ples) through thy truth, thy Word is truth," he 
evidently referred to the Old Testament Scrip- 
tures, as well as to His own sublime teachings,, 
as God's truth; for He said: "I have given them 
thy Word," and the prayer and declaration were 
in unison with the* facts of human history and 
experience. The sanctification of the humani 
heart is by the Holy Spirit through the Word 
of God only. There are no other means, there 
is no other power by and through which this 
great and needed change can be accomplished 
but the Truth of God. No other system of 
ethics or of religion possesses such sanctifying 
power. The wisdom of the world has signally 
failed to meet the demands of the human soul„ 



52 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

the wants of the race in regard to their most 
important interests, and these are the interests 
with which this Book deals and for which, ac- 
cording to the testimony of millions of the pur- 
est of the race, of both the living and the dead, 
this Book presents ample provisions. 

With all these proofs before us how can we 
entertain a rational doubt that the facts and 
doctrines made known to man in the Bible have 
been communicated to him by his Maker for 
his instruction, and comfort, and guidance amid 
the perplexities, and trials, and sorrows of this 
life? And it is to be borne in mind that this is 
not the testimony of some, but of all the myriads 
of witnesses who have been made partakers of 
an experimental knowledge of the grace reveal- 
ed and proffered to men in these sacred pages. 
They all recognize the fact that Jehovah has 
spoken to those men whom He has chosen and 
sent as His messengers to the race, and as the 
Author of the messages they have delivered, 
whether they were delivered to them by divine 
oral instruction or simply by their conscious 
experience of the impulses of the Holy Spirit 
upon their hearts. 

That the various writers of these sixty-six 



DEITY. 53 

books which constitute our Bible, writing as 
they did, under such diverse conditions, amid 
such diverse environments, with such varieties 
of natural and acquired abilities and tastes, — 
should thus uniformly present the same concep- 
tions of Deity is inconceivable except upon the 
supposition that Jehovah revealed a knowledge 
of Himself and of His will to them in some 
supernatural manner. 



54 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

CHAPTER V. 

DIVINE ATTRIBUTES. 

THE truth presented in the preceding chapter 
is more clearly shown and more emphatic- 
ally confirmed by the entire harmony observ- 
able among the writers of the Bible in their 
more specific references to what are known 
among Theological writers as the ' ^ divine attri- 
butes. ' ' 

These attributes constitute the elements of 
His being, and are essential to the idea of Deity. 
This is equivalent to saying that, deprived of 
these "attributes" He would cease to be God. 
That He possesses these attributes to a degree 
and in a manner beyond our comprehension is, 
from the very nature of the case, unquestionably 
true. And that He possesses other attributes, 
perfectly harmonious with these, which have 
not been revealed to us, and of the nature of 
which we can have no conception, is in a high 
degree probable. But, even if that be so, He 
has made such a revelation of Himself to man 



DIVINE ATTRIBUTES. 55 

in His Word, as He saw fit to make; neither 
are we prepared to say that any additional rev- 
elations would have been, or would now be 
profitable to roan. 

Deity has seen fit graciously to make Him- 
self known to us as self-existent, eternal, all- 
wise, all-powerful; as infinite in justice, mercy, 
truth, love and holiness; as the Creator and 
Ruler of all things, whether in heaven above or 
in earth beneath; and as the Author of human 
redemption and salvation through Christ Jesus. 

It is not my purpose to discuss these attri- 
butes now. I only wish to call attention to the 
fact, that the Sacred Record everywhere recog- 
nizes these as the characteristics of Jehovah — 
God. There are no discrepancies, no contra- 
dictions, no variations in this regard through- 
out the entire volume of Inspiration. Just as 
these attributes are developed in the first three 
chapters of Genesis (as far as that development 
goes) so they are preserved throughout the en- 
tire Record, whenever the writers have occasion 
to refer to them, however remote the reference 
may be. If it be objected that some of these 
attributes are incompatible with each other, or 
contradictory of each other, as for example to 



56 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

say, that one and the same Being is at the same 
time infinitely just and, infinitely merciful is to 
state an impossible condition^ the one being in- 
consistent with the other, I reply: That is not 
the question under present consideration. The 
question at present regards simply the entire 
harmony of the writers of the Bible in ascribing 
these attributes to the Being we call God, And 
I insist that the unanimity with which these 
writers ascribe these elements of His nature 
and being to Him is utterly unaccountable upon 
any other theory than that one Spirit guided 
them all in their conceptions and descriptions 
of Deity. 

In illustration of this point let us compare a 
few statements made by different writers, at 
very different ages, and, consequently, under 
very different conditions of the human race: 
Look at the account given of the transactions 
in the garden of Eden both before and after the 
fall of man, as recorded in the first few chap- 
ters of Genesis. In this portion of the divine 
Word several of the attributes of Deity are de- 
veloped in such a manner as to demand our 
closest attention. 

God is declared to be the Creator of "The 



DIVINE ATTRIBUTES. 57 

heavens and the earth" in the beginning "of 
their existence. ' ' (The Hebrew term for ' 'God ' 5 
employed here is Elohim.} This is equivalent 
to saying that He has all power — is omnipo- 
tent. (Gen. 1:1.) Of course this was a matter 
of pure revelation to the human scribe, who- 
ever he might have been. In the light of 
modern science, there can be but little, if any 
room for doubt that the creation here described 
antedated the creation of man by many millions 
of years. Nor is this view at all in conflict 
with the Sacred narrative, when properly under- 
stood. But whenever and however this creative 
energy may have been exerted, God was the 
Creator. 

This is the initial presentation of the idea of 
God (Elohim) to the human race, and it is that 
of omnipotent creative power. If now we turn 
to "Revelation," (21:5) we read: "And He 
(God) that sat upon the throne, said, Behold I 
make all things new. " That the Book of "Rev- 
elation" was written at least 1500 years after 
the Book of Genesis was written in the form in 
which we now have it, and under widely differ- 
ent conditions of the race civilly, intellectually 
and religiously, does not admit of a rational 



58 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

doubt. And yet this almightiness which is as- 
cribed to God in the first verse of Genesis is 
also ascribed to Him here in the latest Book of 
the Bible. And more striking still are the 
following passages found in "Revelation," 
"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which 
was, and is, and is to come .... Thou art 
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and 
power: for thou hast created all things, and for 
thy pleasure they are and were created.' 5 (Rev. 
4:8-11.) In these passages the same creative 
power, involving the idea of Omnipotence, is 
ascribed to God that is declared of Him in Gen- 
esis, with the additional attribute of holiness, 
and a statement of the reason or object of cre- 
ation, viz., the divine pleasure. And yet the 
style of John in the "Revelation" is as different 
from that employed by the writer of Genesis as 
were the conditions under which they wrote. 

And thus it is through all the intervening 
Books. Whenever the writers have occasion 
to refer to the matter, however remotely, God, 
whether simply God, {Elohim) or (Yehovah 
Elohim) Lord God of the Old Testament; or 
God, {Theos) or {Kurios ho Theos) of the New 
Testament He is invariably recognized as the 



DIVINE ATTRIBUTES. 59 

Omnipotent one. Whatever may be our con- 
ception of the meaning of these terms employed 
by the sacred writers to express the nature of 
this self-existent Creator, there can not be any 
rational doubt that they used them in identically 
the same sense. Just the Being whom the pen- 
man of Genesis calls "Elohim," John in the 
Revelation calls "Theos." Throughout the en- 
tire Bible He is presented to us as the same 
God, infinite and perfect in all the attributes of 
His being. 

Without stopping to discuss them, I will note 
the following additional facts as illustrative of 
the attributes, and hence of the nature and pre- 
rogatives of God, as harmoniously portrayed by 
these writers, however varied their environ- 
ments and their phraseology. 

In Gen. 2, the Lord God asserts His sover- 
eignty over man, fixing his abode, placing him 
in it, and giving him authoritative directions as 
to what he might do, and what he must not do, 
with an announcement of the penalty which 
would be inflicted upon him in case of disobe- 
dience. In all this His claim to govern man is 
clearly implied. This same authority is claimed 
throughout these sacred Oracles, without the 



60 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

least variation or abatement and in unmistak- 
able terms. In no instance is He represented 
as relaxing this claim or in any sense abating 
His "right to reign" absolutely over the works 
of His hand. He is "King of kings and Lord 
of lords." In this regard all the writers of the 
Bible from Moses to John are as one. This is 
a constant quantity amidst all the variations of 
human modes of thought and all the vicissi- 
tudes of mundane affairs. From the first to 
the last utterances of these writers the rule is: 
Obey God and live, or disobey Him and die. 
According to the undeviating tenor of His 
Word, Jehovah demands of all men everywhere, 
at all times and under all conditions, entire sub- 
mission to His will and implicit obedience to 
His laws; and all this not simply because he has 
a right to such submission, but also because by 
such obedience man's happiness and best inter- 
ests are conserved — or in other words: "All His 
ways are pleasantness and all His paths are 
peace" to man. He is ever present everywhere 
"beholding the evil and the good" and will in 
the end bring every work into judgment. None 
can evade His power, none escape His hands. 
"His kingdom ruleth over all" and "All that 



DIVINE ATTRIBUTES. 61 

He does is done in righteousness and in truth," 
for "He is just and righteous in all His ways." 
As far as possible, the writers sink them- 
selves out of sight, and present only their 
themes. In fact many of these writings are 
anonymous. But whether we have the names 
of the writers or not, the uniformity of their 
descriptions of the being, nature and attributes 
of God are marvelous, if not utterly inexplic- 
able, upon any other hypothesis than that of 
having been dictated by the same Spirit, and 
that Spirit was none other than the Spirit of 
the God of infinite wisdom and truth. 



62 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

CHAPTEK VI. 

JUSTICE AND MERCY. 

ACCORDING to Biblical representation,. 
Justice and Mercy are attributes of Deity. 
By those who deny or question the divine in- 
spiration and authority of our Scriptures, it is 
claimed that these attributes are incompatible 
with each other and, therefore, mutually de- 
structive and are thus fatal to the idea of super- 
natural inspiration. 

It is not my purpose to undertake now to 
show their harmony and entire compatibility 
with each other. That task would devolve upon 
the expositor. My only purpose at present is 
to call attention to the wonderful harmony 
which exists among the sacred writers respect- 
ing both the existence and constant exercise of 
these attributes in the administration of the 
divine government over the world of intelligent 
moral creatures, and I take again for illustra- 
tion examples from the first and last of the 
sixty-six Books of this volume. We learn 
from the first few chapters of Genesis that God 



JUSTICE AND MERCY. 63 

created man in "His own image and likeness" 
and provided for his happiness by placing him 
amid environments just suited to his nature and 
bestowing a suitable companion to cheer his life 
and to share his joys. In this habitation called 
the "Garden of Eden" He had collected every- 
thing that could minister to their wants, pro- 
mote their happiness and contribute to their 
welfare. He gave them full and free use of all 
the products of the garden except the fruit of one 
tree. But of the fruit of that tree He positively 
forbade their eating, and told them what would 
be the result of disobedience. In this grant 
there is abundant evidence of the goodness of 
their Creator in thus providing for the happi- 
ness of these, His intelligent and moral creatures, 
but, at the same time there is a clear expression of 
His authority over them and of their obligation 
to obey such authority. These are clearly set 
forth in the narrative given us of these trans- 
actions. I do not assume that Adam and Eve 
comprehended all that was involved in the lan- 
guage of their Creator and Sovereign, but they 
certainly understood both the privilege granted 
and, also, the prohibition enjoined: "Of every 
tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but 



64 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, 
thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day thou eat- 
est thereof, dying thou shalt die (tr. thou shalt 
surely die). That they comprehended the full 
significance of the results that should follow a 
violation of the prohibition is not probable. 
But that they understood the meaning of both 

the privilege and the prohibition is clear from 
the entire narrative. 

The reason here assigned for the prohibition 
is to be regarded rather as a warning than as a 
threat. The effect of the fruit forbidden would 
be death if eaten: "Thou shalt die." 

But no warning which was an expression of 
divine mercy, was disregarded. Adam and Eve, 
the primal pair of the human race, ate of the 
forbidden fruit and incurred the fearful pen- 
alty — death. How sad the results have been 
and will be to their blighted posterity eternity 
alone can fully reveal. The guilty pair were 
called to account for their violation of their 
Sovereign's command, by their own confes- 
sions, were adjudged guilty, were driven from 
the garden which had been their home and were 
forever debarred the privilege of returning to 
its hallowed scenes. 



JUSTICE AND MERCY. 65 

"Oh unexpected stroke, worse than of Death! 
Must I thus leave thee. Paradise? thus leave 
Thee, native soil! these happy walks and shades. 
Fit haunt of Gods? " 

Yet, even in pronouncing the sentence of con- 
demnation and banishment, which Justice de- 
manded, there is given an intimation of mercy, 
a ground of hope. "I will put enmity between 
thee (the serpent) and the woman, and between 
thy seed and her seed: He shall bruise thy head, 
and thou shalt bruise his heel." 

This language, though addressed to the ser- 
pent, was evidently spoken within the hearing 
of Adam and Eve. How much of its import 
they may have comprehended, we are not per- 
mitted to know. But it seems clear that in 
some way they were taught to propitiate the 
divine favor and trust in His mercy for forgive- 
ness. This is clear, I think, from the fact that 
their sons, Cain and Abel, "brought offerings 
to the Lord, 1 ' and the style of the narrative 
clearly indicates that these offerings were cus- 
tomary, made at regular intervals of time and 
that, too, according to the divine requirement, 
though there is no formal statement of these 
conditions in the Record. I think this is cer- 



66 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

tain for the following reason: 1. The rendering 
of the Hebrew (Gen. 4:3,) does not, according 
to high authority, represent the Hebrew cor- 
rectly. It is more correctly rendered "at the 
end of days, " indicating that there was a specific 
period at the close of which sacrifices should be 
offered. 2. It is stated that "Cain brought of 
the fruit of the ground,' } but "Abel brought of 
the firstlings of his flock" — a bloody offering. 
Cain's offering was rejected. Abel's was ac- 
cepted. Why this difference? I can conceive 
of but one reason, viz., God had ordered a 
bloody sacrifice as a type of the sacrifice which 
the seed of the woman would in "the fullness of 
time" make for the sins of mankind. In that 
promised sacrifice Abel had faith, Cain did not. 
(See Heb. .11:4.) Abel did well, though he 
died for it. Cain did not well. The inference 
is a necessary one that our first parents had re- 
vealed to them more or less clearly the merciful 
provision of God by which sin would be par- 
doned and the believing sinner saved. 

And yet the guilty pair were driven out of 
Eden, and made to eat their bread by the sweat 
of their face. They were subjected to toil, and 
sorrow, and affliction through their long lives, 



JUSTICE AND MERCY. 67 

and "death" closed the scene. "In the day 
thou eatest thereof, dying, thou shalt die." 

In this account of the early scenes of human 
life there is manifest a wonderful intermingling 
of justice and mercy in the divine dealings with 
primeval man. And, yet, there is nothing to 
shock our sense of propriety and fitness in the 
entire narrative. All is natural and harmonious 
with our conceptions of justice and mercy in 
guiding the entire transaction. Nothing seems- 
strange or out of harmony except man's disre- 
gard of his Lord's command and consequent 
sin and ruin by which he has entailed sin and 
all our woe, both in this world and that which 
is to come, upon all his posterity. "Where- 
fore, as by one man sin entered into the worlds 
and death by sin\ and so death passed upon all 
men, for that all have sinned." (Rom. 5.12.) 

Then, as intimated above, notwithstanding 
the apparent inconsistency between these divine 
attributes considered in the abstract, we find 
them blended in the most harmonious union in 
the divine proceedings. In fact the divinely 
harmonious union of these attributes is mani- 
fest throughout the Scriptures in the judgments 
of God towards His fallen creature,, man. 



68 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

"O. the goodness and severity of God." 

On the isle of Patmos, the beloved John was, 
through a divine Revelation, permitted to see 
the closing scenes of the present order of mun- 
dane things, and in almost the closing words of 
this Revelation, there is presented a wonder- 
fully striking illustration of the harmonious 
blending of these elements of Jehovah's gov- 
ernment over men. I quote a few passages: 
"But the fearful and unbelieving, and abomi- 
nable, and murderers and whoremongers, and 
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have 
their part in the lake which burnetii with fire 
and brimstone: which is the second death. 55 
(Rev. 21:8.) "Blessed are they which do His 
commandments, that they may have right to the 
tree of life, and may enter in through the gates 
into the city .... And the Spirit and the 
bride say: Come. And let him that heareth, 
say: Come. And let him that is athirst: Come. 
And whosoever will, let him take the water of 
life freely." (Rev. 22:14,17.) 

In these decrees of the final "Judge of human 
kind," and in this comprehensive invitation to 
: men to "come" and accept eternal life "freely," 



JUSTICE AND MERCY. 69 

we find a wonderful harmony between the most 
rigid execution of justice and the extension of 
the broadest conceivable mercy to all who will 
accept it. What more could be asked? 

Thus, as in the first act in the wonderfully 
grand drama of human life, which opened amid 
the beauties, the fragrance, the purity and the 
bliss of an unforfeited Paradise, there is found 
an indiscribable but harmonious blending of the 
sternest justice and the gentlest mercy; so in 
the last scene of the last act, when "the hea- 
vens shall pass away with a great noise, and 
the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the 
earth also and the works therein shall be 
burned up;" when the "Great white throne 
and He that sits upon it" shall appear, and all 
human kind, "Both small and great" shall 
stand before Him to hear their final doom; 
when earth and sea, and death and hades shall 
return their dead to life again, "when heaven's 
last thunder shakes the world below;" when 
amidst the "wreck of matter, and the crush of 
worlds," myriads of angels shall attend the 
"King Eternal," the Everlasting Judge, and 
Time's curtain shall fall forever, (for "Time 
shall be no more,") then, as in the first act of 



70 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

man's great drama, so in this last, shall the 
sternest justice harmoniously blend with infin- 
ite mercy in fixing the eternal state of every 
child of Adam. No mistakes will be made, no 
oversights committed. "He will judge the 
world in righteousness by the man whom He 
hath ordained," (Acts 17:31,) granting pardon 
to the penitent believer, and administering just 
punishment to the impenitent rejector of the 
great atoning Sacrifice. In all this there is no 
violence done to our sense of right and justice, 
"There is no unrighteousness in Him." But 
the Scriptures referred to are but illustrations 
of the uniform representation of the divine at- 
tributes throughout the entire volume of Inspir- 
ation. From the first of "Genesis" to the last 
of "Revelation" there is no exception, no vari- 
ation in the economy of the divine government 
over man. 

And thus it might be shown that all the attri- 
butes are harmoniously exercised as they are 
portrayed in the Bible whether we consult its 
ethical, or its historical, its political, or its pro- 
phetic portions. In fact, amidst all the diver- 
sities of personal peculiarities among the wri- 
ters (and they are many); amid all the changes 



JUSTICE AND MERCY. 71 

of times and circumstances, great as they were, 
there is identity of teaching on all the subjects 
presented in this remarkable Book — the being 
and attributes of Jehovah God ; the fact and 
manner of His moral government over man; 
His gracious will and purposes toward His re- 
bellious creature; man's sinful and lost and 
helpless condition, together with his account- 
ability to his Sovereign for his conduct in this 
life, are recognized and more or less definitely 
stated throughout all its teachings. These doc- 
trines permeate all these writings so palpably 
that no thoughtful reader can fail to discover 
them, or to be impressed by them, with a sense 
of their constancy. 

The question recurs: Is it possible to account 
for this identity of representation of these sol- 
emn doctrines upon any other supposition than 
that the writers were guided by the same divine 
Spirit in all they have written? To account for 
this fact on any other supposition, would make 
the composition of the Bible a greater miracle 
than any which it records to which those who 
deny the Inspiration so seriously object, and 
which they class with superstition and false- 
hood — or the fabrications of wicked and design- 



72 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

ing men. And, if any assert that such a fab- 
rication is probable, or even possible, we de- 
mand that the assertion be sustained by fact. 
Mere assertion without proof avails nothing. 
A parallel example must be furnished from the 
annals of the human race. I ask: What docu- 
ments, ancient or modern, afford such a parallel? 
All the labor and research of scientists (?) have 
so far failed to find such a document. And, 
vet, these boastful so-called "scientists," nei- 
ther accept nor reject any thing except upon 
scientific principles. "Consistency, thou art a 
jewel/' But until a literary production parallel 
to our Bible has been produced, the claim that 
these writings were divinely inspired stands 
unimpeached. The parade of supposed possi- 
bilities of fraud in its composition, or of false- 
hood in the professions of its human authors is 
the result of ignorance and of a desire to appear 
learned and independent thinkers, or of a cor- 
rupt heart and perverted judgment. 

The only rational conclusion is, that the 
writers of the Bible were what they claimed to 
be, the messengers of God, delivering the mes- 
sages He had commanded them to deliver. 
The entire harmony of these writers in refer- 



JUSTICE AND MERCY. 73 

ence to the nature and attributes of Deity is the 
more remarkable when we remember that there 
is no formal manner, nor set terms of phrase- 
ology employed to convey their conceptions of 
God and His attributes. On the contrary, the 
references to them seem to be more of an inci- 
dental nature, growing out of the nature of the 
subject of discourse, or the gushings of holy 
poetic fervour; or the rhapsodies of prophetic 
vision. And what has been said above more 
especially of justice and mercy may be said of 
all the divine attributes. The sacred writers 
uniformly and continually so represent them as 
to show them all to be co-ordinate and harmo- 
nious. 

I, therefore, again insist, that the only ration- 
al, and, therefore, the only scientific conclusion 
is, that the writers of the Bible, whoever they 
may have been, or whenever or wherever they 
may have lived, must have been under the in- 
fluence of and guided by a superhuman Wisdom, 
viz., The Spirit of God, who is the "Creator of 
all things in heaven and in earth, visible and 
invisible." 



74 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE BIBLE A UNIQUE BOOK. 

T^VERY production of the human mind has 
" something within it peculiar to itself, 
something that distinguishes it from every thing 
else. This is no less true in letters than in 
arts. To say, that the Bible is a unique Book 
is to say no more, in some respects, than may 
be said of any other book — it is peculiar. 
Among all the literary productions of the world, 
I think it safe to say that there are no two just 
alike, though hundreds of them may treat of 
the same subject, be the production of the same 
age, and emerge from the same or similar envi- 
ronments. Differences more or less important 
are found everywhere, in all departments or 
lines of human thought and activity. To the 
extent to which any book differs from all other 
books it may be called unique. 

But after we have allowed all that may be 
legitimately claimed upon this principle, 

the bible is par excellence, a unique book. 






THE BIBLE A UNIQUE BOOK. 75 

Some of the features which mark it as such 
I have presented in the preceding pages, and I 
now propose to call attention to others of a 
more general if not of a more striking character. 
Notwithstanding the cavils and high-sounding 
objections of the "Higher Critics 5 ' of the day, 
there is abundant internal evidence that differ- 
ent portions of the Book were written at very 
different periods of time, amidst very different 
circumstances, political, religious and literary, 
some dating back almost to the origin of the 
human race; by men of very different degrees 
of ability both natural and acquired; of diverse 
modes of thought, and varied mental constitu- 
tions. 

Just how many writers contributed to the 
composition of the Bible has not been de- 
termined, and perhaps never will be. But, 
whatever may be the number or the individual 
qualifications of the different writers, whenever 
the authority by which they wrote is referred 
to, they invariably represent themselves as sim- 
ply delivering the messages that had been dic- 
tated by Jehovah, and committed to them for 
announcement to men. It is God speaking 
through or by them. He alone is their Author, 



76 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

and the Records are made by divine guidance. 
Paul has said: "All Scripture is given by in- 
spiration of God." (I prefer this rendering.) 
(II Tim. 3:16.) Luke says: "Beginning at 
Moses and all the prophets, He (Christ) ex- 
pounded unto them in all the Scriptures, the 
things concerning Himself." (Luke 24:27.) 
The Bible is simply the being and will of God 
made known to man through human agency. 

How unlike any other literary production in 
the world this is!! How can this radical un- 
likeness be accounted for except upon the 
ground claimed, viz., that it is divine in its au- 
thorship, while no other book is? 

2. The Bible alone, as an original Book, 
treats of themes of the most exalted nature, and 
of the profoundest interest to man. God is the 
prominent Being from beginning to ending. 
He is the only absolute, independent being in 
the universe, and He is the central figure in the 
grand panorama of all revealed truths — whether 
in His Word or His Providence. He is "In 
the beginning" represented as the Eternal Self- 
existing Creator of "The heavens and the 
earth." In the closing scenes He is represent- 
ed as the Omnipotent Judge of "human kind," 



THE BIBLE A UNIQUE BOOK. 77 

by whose decisions the eternal destiny of every 
human soul will be decided. O, frail, dying 
man, herein is made known to thee thy God, 
and Creator, and Judge in all the majesty of 
His being and perfection of His character. 
Devoutly read, learn and obey, for this knowl- 
edge is obtained no where else. It is here 
only. 

3. By some it is charged that the Bible is an 
unscientific Book. If by this is meant that it 
is in no sense a treatise on the so-called sciences 
of modern days — -Astronomy, Geology, Math- 
ematics, etc., etc., or that it does not use the 
terminology of modern scientists and philoso- 
phers, it is readily and gratefully granted. 
And, yet, it deals with the profoundest scien- 
tific problems — Deity, Sin, Cosmogony, Hu- 
manity, Eternity; and Heaven and Hell as the 
eternal abodes of man; with all the interests of 
man for time and the eternal ages. And all the 
revelation and the inspiration given are devel- 
opments or manifestations of the knowledge of 
God made to man — the unfolding as it were, of 
the science of Deity. A personal God, Crea- 
tor and Ruler of the universe of both material 
and immaterial existences is the Center and 



78 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

Circumference of all Revelation, natural and 
supernatural, the source of all divine inspir- 
ation and of all good. In all this God is mak- 
ing Himself known to His intelligent creature, 
man. All the facts, doctrines and duties given 
or enjoined by inspiration, together with all 
their conditions and consequences are but sub- 
ordinate parts of this revelation. Hence, no 
honor is paid to the inspired writers except as 
they serve their Sovereign. They are only the 
agents used by the Master to make His nature 
and will known to man. The highest honor 
they ever claimed or that is any where in this 
Book accorded to them is that they were His 
servants. The language of these writers is: 
' 'Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name." 
"The desire of our souls is unto thy name." 
Divine honors are accorded only to the Most 
High God. 

A very striking illustration of this recogni- 
tion of the right of Jehovah alone to the ador- 
ation of man is found in Rev. 19:10: So glo- 
rious in appearance was the heavenly messenger 
sent to John on the isle of Patmos he "Fell at 
his feet to worship him. But he (the angel) 
said unto him: See thou do it not; I am thy 



THE BIBLE A UNIQUE BOOK. 79 

fellow-servant, and (one) of thy brethren that 
have the testimony of Jesus: Worship God." 

Thus it is throughout the entire volume of 
inspiration. No creature, however exalted, 
however pure, however honored of God, is any 
where in these writings recognized as worthy of 
our heart's homage. God alone, the one living 
and true God is to be worshipped. No hero 
however renowned; no ancestor however loved 
and honored, as a man, receives divine honor. 
Such homage is due to God alone. The uni- 
form recognition is: "Thou shalt worship the 
Lord, thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." 

4. Another unique feature of the Bible is, 
that its teachings are monotheistic throughout. 
It reveals to man One God, and only One, and,, 
so far from recognizing the existence of any 
other, positively and persistently denies that 
there is any other. 

There are forcible reasons for believing that 
for a longer or shorter period after the disper- 
sion all the nations were Monotheists. But 
gradually in process of time, they, as nations, 
lost all proper conception of this One God, and 
invented a plurality of gods — became Polythe- 
ists. And, while there were individuals who 



80 THOUGHTS OxV INSPIRATION. 

adhered to the primitive monotheism, as Enoch, 
Seth and Noah, still the masses had become 
Polytheists before Abraham's day. Of course, 
all such had become idolaters. No doubt some 
peoples as such departed from, pure monothe- 
ism earlier and some later, and only those na- 
tions who retained a knowledge of God through 
the Revelation He had made to men retained 
the primitive monotheistic faith. 

This doctrine of the One God of infinite per- 
fection, which is persistently the teaching of 
the Bible, is of vast moment. Pagan nations 
recognized "gods many," of various degrees of 
power and authority, frequently meeting and 
consulting about mundane affairs. But the 
councils of the gods of the most enlightened 
heathen nations of antiquity were frequently 
discordant, and their conclaves were often oc- 
casions of acrimonious strife, while the gods 
and goddesses were filled with mutual envies 
and jealousies, often laboring to thwart each 
others purposes. Seldom did their Supreme 
god call a council that such scenes were not 
enacted. 

And even their Supreme god was subject to 
the "Fates," whose decrees he could neither 



THE BIBLE A UNIQUE BOOK. 81 

reverse nor resist. These Fates were inexor- 
able and their decrees unalterable. Besides, 
these gods and goddesses were jealous, vindic- 
tive, deceitful and lewd beyond measure. Under 
such conceptions of the reigning Celestials noth- 
ing was certain but uncertainties. No wonder 
that wars the most cruel and unjust and coupled 
with the death or enslavement of the prisoners, 
cursed the earth; for were they not each and all 
the wards of some god, acting under his sanc- 
tion, the only trouble being that the Fates were 
irresistible? 

But the Biblical idea of One Supreme Kuler 
of the Universe gives assurance of unity of 
purpose in all cosmic operations, material or 
immaterial, with a restful anticipation of the 
final consummation of ends the most beneficent 
and wise. There is no caprice in His govern- 
ment, and He fears no rival, acknowledges no 
peer. On the integrity of His Word, and the 
stability of His throne man may build and rest 
their dearest hopes and highest joys without a 
suspicion of fear. "I am the Lord, I change 
not," rings out from the eternal Throne. 

But whatever use we may make of it, or what- 
ever results may flow from it, the monotheism 



82 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

of the Bible is one of its peculiar doctrines. 
This is one of the features of its uniqueness. 

The watchword or battle-cry of the Moham- 
medan : c 'There is but One God, ' ' is derived from 
our Book of Inspiration. 

That God is here presented to us in the three 
relations, or manifestations of His power and 
work as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, does not 
destroy this unity — this oneness. These three 
distinctions are in our theological nomenclature 
called "Persons." Whether this is the best 
designation available may be a question. But 
the Christian world has become accustomed to 
its use and it answers our convenience, though 
I believe it is, to many, misleading. 

The distinct manifestation of the relation of 
"Son" was not fully made until His Baptism 
in Jordan by His "Messenger," John the Bap- 
tist, at His entrance upon His public ministry. 
But intimations of His coming had been given 
throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, in 
types, and prophecies, beginning in the garden 
of Eden and typified in the sacrifices of Abel, 
Noah, Abraham, the Patriarchs and all the sac- 
rifices and offerings of the Mosaic economy; 
and foretold more or less distinctly by all the 



THE BIBLE A UNIQUE BOOK. 83 

prophets from Moses to Malachi. Whoever 
will carefully compare the descriptions given in 
the Old Testament prophecies and types of the 
Messiah therein foretold — His advent into the 
world, His character, work and death — with the 
historical Jesus of Nazareth as described by the 
writers of the New Testament Scriptures can 
not fail to see the identity of the historical and 
the prophetical man — yet more than a man — 
beyond a reasonable doubt. All the types and 
prophecies of the Old Testament meet, are ful- 
filled in Him whose advent into the world was 
foretold by inspired prophets hundreds of years 
prior to the event. 

There is no other literature in the world like 
this. It stands alone, the wonder and admira- 
tion of the devout student. Indeed, no other 
production approaches this in its contents, its 
claims and its influence over men. Its subjects 
are broader and grander, its influence purer and 
more ennobling, and its claims more exalted 
than any other writings whatever. Why all this? 
Simply because its Author is divine. 

5. Likewise the Bible teaches all that we may 
know of humanity — all that concerns and sub- 
serves man's highest interests. God is self- 



84 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

existent and eternal. All other beings are 
mere creatures of God, and hence, had a begin- 
ning, by His will and power. The Bible tells 
us how, and, in a certain sense, when man be- 
gan to be, together with his nature and condition. 
And, according to its teachings, man is the di- 
rect creature of God, and was created in His 
5 'image" and "likeness," endowed with noble 
mental powers, and, as distinguishing him 
above all other terrestrial beings, was also en- 
dowed with a moral nature, and thereby made 
capable of distinguishing between right and 
wrong, good and evil, and, hence, a subject of 
moral government. It also tells us that prim- 
itive man was morally pure. He must have 
been happy; but by transgression of his Maker's 
law he fell into sin, and consequently into moral 
ruin. 

In all this account of the first act of human 
drama there is nothing absurd nor puerile. 
The writer, "A plain unvarnished tale unfolds, 
nothing conceals, nothing extenuates, nor sets 
down aught in malice." In all its subsequent 
teachings concerning the race the Bible deals 
with the solemn problems of the human soul in 
its relations to God and Eternity, to heaven and 



THE BIBLE A UNIQUE BOOK. 85 

to hell — eternal life and eternal death. It is 
true that in doing this, his mundane conditions 
and his physical and mental wants are frequently 
referred to and provision made for them, and 
all the trustworthy history we have of the race 
for about 3000 years is here given. But all 
these are given incidentally and as subordinate 
to the interests of the soul — its condition, its 
needs and its destiny. For the delivery of the 
soul from condemnation and everlasting pain it 
offers ample provision. And these provisions 
are utterly unlike those projiosed by any other 
system of religion or philosophy. The plan 
here is the consummation of the harmony of 
justice and mercy. Here, "Mercy and truth 
are met together (are in harmony); righteous- 
ness and peace have kissed each other." And 
this is the one purpose of the Book, so far as 
man is concerned. Here the solemn question 
that has perplexed the sages of the world, u How 
should man be just with (before) God?" is here 
for ever settled. The conditions are clearly set 
forth. All else relating to man occupies a very 
subordinate place to this. And here alone is 
the problem solved — that problem which affects 



86 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

the eternal interests of every human being. 
This is science worthy of the name. 

Whether the provisions proposed meet all 
the wants or demands of the human soul is 
another question, and not now under discus- 
sion. What mere man has ever analyzed the 
human soul so as to know all the elements and 
possibilities of its mysterious being? Until we 
are assured that this has been done it becomes 
us to speak with modesty concerning it. But 
whether they do or do not, they are such as the 
Bible offers. But one thing is remarkable, viz., 
We can not conceive of a possible condition of 
a soul in this life nor of a need of it in the life 
to come which is not recognized and provided 
for in the terms proposed here. These provis- 
ions, too, are equally suited to the needs of men 
of all times, all climes and of all conceivable 
conditions. It is a Book given to man for men, 
without distinctions of age or condition — given 
to man as man — and proposes the one sovereign 
remedy for all the ills which afflict his soul. 

Whence all this? Is it purely human in its 
origin? If so, how does it occur that it is the 
only Booh of its kind% the only Book that deals 
with these solemn questions chiefly? and deals 



THE BIBLE A UNIQUE BOOK. 87 

with them so as to carry conviction of truth to 
the mind of the honest unbiased reader? The 
answer must be: Because this is the only book 
known to man which the Holy Spirit dictated 
for man's ; 'Instruction in righteousness, 5 ' which 
touches man at every point, and treats with him 
in regard to his dearest interests, those of his 
soul — his real self, "For what shall it profit a 
man if he gain the whole world and lose him- 
self." 

The things of time and sense are here regard- 
ed in their true light and estimated at their true 
value — fleeting, unsatisfactory, false in promise 
and perishing; and yet to all men attractive, se- 
ductive and a snare. Dealing with and address- 
ed to man in his fallen condition as the subject 
of sin and all its bitter fruits in this life — toil, 
pain, disappointment, sorrow, disease and death; 
and in the life to come everlasting banishment 
from all that is good and desirable; and subjec- 
tion to intensest pain, even to hopeless despair, 
and "weeping and gnashing of teeth" for ever; 
it proposes, a means of escape from these fear- 
ful results of sin and points out the way to our 
Fathers house, that "House not made with 
hands, eternal in the heavens," — the home of 



88 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

the soul, and bids him freely enter and live for 
ever in bliss — at home. "I am the way, the 
truth and the life," says Jesus. "Look unto 
me, and he ye saved." 

The whole system presented for the accom- 
plishment of these ends is sublime in its concep- 
tion, gracious in its purposes, wonderful in its 
adaptations and glorious in its results. It is 
such as no human mind could conceive and no 
human power could execute or make operative. 
Compare all the schemes of all the sages, and 
how signal their failure ! Whence then is this? 
Evidently it is of God, who has here given us 
knowledge of Himself, and of His will and pur- 
poses of grace toward man, through those whom 
He has specially called and qualified by His 
Spirit to the performance of this gracious work, 
"Oh, Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in 
me is thy help." 



SOME OBJECTIONS NOTICED. 8& 

CHAPTEE IX. 

SOME OBJECTIONS NOTICED. 

TO all this various objections are raised by 
various classes of men. I note the fol- 
lowing: 

1. It is objected that the Biblical Cosmogony 
is an awkward conglomerate of various heathen 
mythological accounts of the creation of the 
universe and the origin of man. I reply: This 
is begging the question in the baldest manner. 
There is no proof of its truth. It is much more 
reasonable, from the various accounts of the 
matter, to conclude that all such accounts are 
corrupted traditions from this as the primeval 
source of information. A careful comparison 
of the several accounts will, I think, satisfy any 
candid enquirer of the reasonableness of this 
conclusion. 

2. It is objected that the writers had false 
conceptions of the figure of the earth and of its 
relation to the solar and stellar worlds; that they 
regarded the earth as flat, and the sun and 



90 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

siderial orbs as revolving around it as their 
center. That this was the opinion of the scien- 
tists down to the days of Copernicus is well 
attested. But I do not call to mind a single 
passage in the Bible which, properly under- 
stood, justifies such a claim. It is true they 
spake of the "ends of the earth," meaning its 
most remote portions. So do we of to-day. 
They also spake of the sun's rising in the east 
and setting in the west. So do we, even our 
wisest astronomers. These are forms of ex- 
pression known and common to all men who 
have any literature, and they meet all the de- 
mands of scholarship as well as of everyday life. 
As to the form of the earth, however, I think 
the Bible rather favors the idea of its rotundity. 
Job said (26:7): "He (God) stretcheth out the 
north over the empty place, and hangeth the 
earth upon nothing." "As for the earth, out 
of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as 
it were fire." (28:5.) This was said by that 
servant of God at least 2000 years before Co- 
pernicus was born. Whether Job meant to say 
that the central portions of the earth were a 
molten mass I do not know. But certain it is 



SOME OBJECTIONS NOTICED. 91 

tli at he spake of the earth as swinging in space, 
and thus necessarily involving its rotundity. 

3. It is objected that its teachings concern- 
ing what are known as miracles are unscientific 
and, therefore, utterly incredible. By ' 'mira- 
cles" we understand such a suspension of known 
natural laws as to necessitate the intervention 
of supernatural power. The very definition, 
therefore, excludes the idea of scientific analy- 
sis of phenomena. And there is no scientific 

. fact more fully attested than that Jehovah has 
at various times and in various ways interposed 
to suspend the operation of the general laws 
which He has appointed for the government of 
the natural world for specific and special rea- 
sons. If the testimony of credible witnesses is 
worthy of credence, then by all the laws of 
evidence known to the civil codes of the civil- 
ized world such interference has often been ex- 
ercised, the skeptic and critic to the contrary 
notwithstanding. 

4. It is objected that there are many anachro- 
nisms in the Book which render it unworthy of 
credence as one of divine inspiration. 

Although this objection does not so much 
affect the question of inspiration as it does that 



92 THOUGHTS ON INSPIRATION. 

of authenticity, yet these so intimately involve 
each other, I briefly notice it here, and to this 
objection offer the following reflection: It is a 
well known and recognized law of language, 
that all living (spoken) languages constantly 
change. Many words which have held their 
places in the vocabulary for a longer or shorter 
period become obsolete and are dropped from 
the language while new words are invented to 
take their places. This law is so well known 
and so generally recognized I need not give 
instances in proof. 

Besides many words that are retained are 
changed in their signification, often assuming 
the exactly opposite meaning. A familiar illus- 
tration of the latter is found in our English 
word "Let.'' 1 When James's translation of the 
Bible was made "Let". meant to hinder. Now 
it means just the opposite. A recognition of 
this fact will, no doubt, account for all Biblical 
anachronisms. No one claims that we have the 
first copies of the Hebrew originals. But we 
have carefully made and preserved copies. 
When a word has become obsolete, from what- 
ever cause, the copyist could not be true to his 
important work except by inserting the (then) 



SOME OBJECTIONS NOTICED. 93 

modern equivalent in the place of the obsolete. 
Thus new words would become incorporated 
into the sacred Books of the Jews, who, by 
their frequent captivities were exposed to the 
influence of the language of their captors. 

That post-exilic words are found in pre-exilic 
history is the natural result of the law above 
referred to. Had there been no such variations 
we would have reason to call it forgery. 



THE END. 






* 

♦ 
* 



i 



THOUGHTS 



f ON 

J DIVINE INSPIRATION. 



BY 

Rev. J. B. SOLOMON, A.M., D.D., 

WITH AN 

INTRODUCTION 

BY 

Prof. WHITSITT, D.D.. 

Of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 
Louisville, Ky. 



Printed and Published by 

BAPTIST BOOK CONCEBX, 

LOUISVILLE, KY. 

1894. 



Single copies, 25 c; 25 copies, $6.00; 50 copies, $11.50; 100 copies, $20 00. 



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